Yummy Energy Bites

November 25, 2015

Good Morning,

I don’t know about you but with the days getting colder and shorter, I find my energy is lacking. And when my energy is low I usually crave food. And by food I mean snacks. And by snacks I mean sugary, fatty, processed crap disguised as food. Sure, they are delicious, but they do little for my energy level (and add to my waistline). In an effort to find some healthier ways to get a quick pick-me-up, I did a little “research” (aka spending quality time with my BFF Pinterest). I was excited when I discovered some healthy (and yummy) sounding recipes for different energy bites. So I tried them out, and I’m sharing three of them with you today!

The first batch I tried were the Blueberry-Lemon Energy Bites from Dishing up the Dirt. Made with ground up nuts, dates, coconut and dried blueberries these are sweet, super fresh-tasting, and satisfying. I substituted ground almond instead of cashews and fresh blueberries instead of dried and they still turned out lovely.

The next batch was the Nutella Energy Bites from Gimme Some Oven. I know what you are thinking, these can’t be healthy if they are made with that heavenly hazelnut spread. Sure, they aren’t vegetable smoothie healthy, but when combined with things like flax and chia seeds which offer tons of fiber, protein, good Omega-3 fats and a slew of other minerals and nutrients, they are certainly better for you than a Nutella filled doughnut. And they taste almost as good.

The last bites on my list, the Moroccan Date Bon-Bon from Food & Wine, were the biggest surprise of my energy bite adventure. These ones are packed with dates, 3 kinds of nuts, various spices, and get this….kalamata olives! I was expecting the olives to throw off the sweet flavour but it was just the opposite. They really complemented the other ingredients and made the flavour totally unique but delicious. Also, I’ve never met a recipe with pistachios that I didn’t like.

Now, a couple of things to note about these recipes. You need a good food processor, especially for the ones with the dates because they get very gummy and will bung up anything else you might use to whip these up. And all of these recipes recommend you put them in the refrigerator, but my bites still fell into messy flat blobs in the fridge. So, I kept them in the freezer to help keep the shape, and lots of the time I ate them straight out of the freezer!

I would totally recommend all three of these bite-sized healthy snacks. They are all very different, but all of them are delicious, filling and give you an energy boost when you need it most. I hope you like them too!